·          Pressure for Peace

o          The late 1800s and early 1900s saw serious efforts to end the scourge of war.

o          Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor of dynamite.

o          He set up the Nobel peace Prize to reward each year the individual whose work advanced the cause of peace.

·          Aggressive Nationalism

o          Nationalism can be a positive force, binding together a nations people.

o          Nationalism was strong in Germany and France.

o          In Eastern Europe, Russia sponsored a powerful form of nationalism called Pan-Slavism.

·          Economic and Imperial Rivalries

o          Economic rivalries further poisoned the international atmosphere.

o          The British were threatened by Germanys rapid economic growth.

o          By 1900, Germanys new, modern factories increasingly out produced Britains older ones.

·          Militarism and the Arms Race

o          Militarism is the glorification of the military.

o          Under militarism, the armed forces and readiness for war came to dominate national policy.

o          Militarists painted war in romantic colors.

·          A Tangle of Alliances

o          The first alliances had their origins in Bismarcks day.

o          He was aware tha France longed to avenge its humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.

o          In 1872, Germany joined a weak alliance with Austria-Hungary and Russia.

·          A Murder With Millions of Victims

o          In 1914, a small group of young revolutionaries huddled around a café table in Belgrade, Serbia.

o          June 28 was the fate on which Serbia had been conquered by the Ottoman empire in 1389.

o          Bosnia was still ruled by Austria-Hungary.

·          Peace Unravels

o          Ultimatum is a final set of demands.

o          To mobilize is to prepare its military forces for war.

o          Neutrality is a policy of supporting neither side in a war.

·          Whose Fault?

o          Each great power believed its cause was just.

o          Austria wanted to punish Serbia for encouraging terrorism.

o          Germany felt that it must stand the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia as an effort to oppress Slavic peoples.

·          The Western Front

o          On the Western Front, the warring armies burrowed into a vast system of trenches, stretching from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel.

o          An underground network linked bunkers, communications trenches, and gun emplacements.

o          There, millions of soldiers roasted under the broiling summer sun or froze through the long winters.

·          Other European Fronts

o          In August 1914, Russian armies pushed into eastern Germany.

o          Then, at the battle of Tannenberg, they suffered one of the worst defeats of the war.

o          After Tannenberg, armies in the east fought on Russian soil.

·          The War Beyond Europe

o          European colonies were drawn into the struggle.

o          The Allies overran scattered German colonies in Africa and Asia.

o          They also turned to their own colonies and dominions for troops, laborers, and supplies.

·          Effects of the Stalemate

o          Total war is the channeling of a nations entire resources into a war effort.

o          Early on, both sides set up systems to recruit, arm, transport, and supply armies that numbered in the millions.

o          All of the warring nations except Britain imposed universal military conscription, or the draft, which required all yound men to be ready for military or other service.

·          Women at War

o          Military nurses shared the dangers of the men whose wounds they tended.

o          At aid stations close to the front lines, they worked around the clock, especially after a big push brought a flood of casualties.

o          Some women became national heroes.

·          Collapsing Morale

o          By 1917, the morale of both troops and civilians had plunged.

o          Germany was sending 15-year-old recruits to the front.

o          Britain was on the brink of bankruptcy.

·          The United States Declares War

o          Soon after the Russian Revolution began, however, another event altered the balance of forces.

o          The United States, whish so far had stayed out of the fighting, declared war on Germany.

o          In May 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the British liner Lusitania.

·          Campaign to Victory

o          An armistice is an agreement to end fighting.

o          The German government sought this with the Allies.

o          At 11 A.M. on November 11, 1918, the Great War at last came to an end.

·          The Costs of War

o          The human and material costs of the war were staggering.

o          More than 8.5 million people were dead.  Double that number had been wounded, many handicapped for life.

o          Famine threatened many regions.

·          The Paris Peace Conference

o          Woodrow Wilson was one of three strong personalities who dominated the Paris Peace Conference.

o          A dedicated reformer, Wilson was so sure of his rightness that he could be hard to work with.

o          The British prime minister, David Lloyd George, knew that the British people demanded harsh treatment for Germany.

·          The Treaty of Versailles

o          In June 1919, the peacemakers summoned representatives of the new German Republic to the palace of Versailles outside Paris.

o          The Germans were ordered to sign the treaty drawn up by the Allies.

o          The German delegates read the document with growing horror.

·          Other Settlements

o          The leaders at Paris applied the principle of self-determination only to parts of Europe.

o          The treaties created a system of mandates.

o          A mandate is a territory that is administered by western power.

·          Hopes for Global Peace

o          The Paris Peace Conference offered one beacon of hope in the League of Nations.

o          In the aftermath of the war, millions of people looked to the league to ensure the peace.

o          More than 40 nations joined the league and agreed to negotiate disputes rather than resort to war.